We help organizations plan, make decisions, solve problems, and work together.
We can facilitate a single meeting or support an ongoing initiative. Before we design anything, we agree with you on its purpose, scope, and intended results.
Make good use of the time people spend together.
We design and facilitate board retreats, planning sessions, stakeholder conversations, and workshops where people need to make decisions, solve problems, or develop something together.
“Thinking about how to design a meeting changed how I look at all of our meetings.”
Health center board member, after a session we led
Make a plan people can use.
We help organizations set priorities, develop strategies, clarify responsibilities, and turn ideas into practical plans. We can also support implementation once the plan is in place.
Coordinate work that several organizations share.
We support coalitions, networks, and organizations working toward a common goal. That includes coordinating partners, facilitating decisions, organizing responsibilities, and helping people follow through on commitments.
“Good infrastructure does what a system should do, so people can show up and do the things only people can do.”
Brooke Albert, Founder
Give people something useful to take away.
We develop talks and interactive sessions on leadership, communication, collaboration, and the ways people work together. Each session is tailored to the audience and purpose of the event.
Looking for training? Explore our training catalog or ask us to develop a custom training for your organization.
Examples of support we have designed for organizations, beyond our trainings.
Strategic planning
The organization had outgrown its last plan and had more opportunities than it could take on. We designed a four-phase process (Learn, Choose, Align, and Build) with a decision point at the end of each phase. It starts from the evidence the organization already has, adds listening sessions with clients, staff, board members, and funders, and ends with a short list of priorities, a plan for each one, and the measures and roles that keep the plan in use.
Communications
An education organization had a strategy and a messaging framework, and needed help with the weekly decisions that follow: priorities, audiences, messengers, timing, and approvals. We designed an eleven-month partnership that sets clear decision rights and approval steps, a crisis protocol, and regular planning sessions. Responsibility moves from HRW to the organization's staff in stages, so the staff run the work by the end.
Partnerships and coordination
Many partners were active, and handoffs between emergency response, courts, schools, and treatment depended on who happened to be available. We designed a coordination structure around four referral pathways. Regular cross-sector meetings produce written agreements, shared referral steps, and warm-handoff protocols, and shared data reviews show partners where coordination is working and where it needs attention.
Listening and co-design
The team worked across several communities, its boundaries were hard to keep, and important knowledge sat with a few people. We designed an eight-week process: confidential listening sessions, a written summary of what is working and what to change, a private debrief with leadership, and a team workshop where the team decides its next steps.
For funders and partners.
If you are planning a grant-funded project, we can strengthen your proposal with expertise in training, facilitation, and coordination.
We partner with agencies, United Ways, coalitions, and community organizations to design and deliver projects. Bring us in early, and we'll help plan the approach, scope, timeline, and budget.
Tell us what you're trying to accomplish and where you could use some help.
We'll start with a conversation, learn more about your project, and recommend a way to work together.